Fire-extinguisher.



W. T. CHARLES.

FIRE EXTI NGUISHER.

APPLICATION'HLED JUNE 17, 1916.

Patented June 5, 1917.

WALTER r. CHARLES, or CHICAGO, mnmors.

rmn-nxrmeursnnn.

To all whom it may concern:

, Be it known that I, WALTER T. CHARLES, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements/in Fire-Extinguishers, of which the 'following is a specification.

The main objects of this invention are to provide an improved form of liquid squirting apparatus particularly adapted for use as a fire extinguisher; to provide an improved fire extinguisher apparatus which will discharge substantially all of its contents regardless of the position in which it is held; and to provide an improved fire extinguisher apparatus wherefrom the fire extinguishing liquid'is discharged by means of air pressure. 7

An illustrative embodiment of this invention in the form .of a fire extinguisher is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which: I

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section. Fig. 2 is a detail of the piston in one of its positions. Y

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail showing the valve head coacting with the valve seat fort preventing accidental leakage at the nozzle. Fig. 4. is a top plan detail of the inwardly facing flanges which are engaged by shoulders on the piston rod for locking the latter in its innermost position. l I

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional detail, of the piston rod end piece.

. In the construction shown in the drawing's, an elongated tubular casing 1 is prd vided with caps 2 and 3 brazed on the op site ends thereof forming a receptacle ad p% ed to contain a liquid. The upper cap2 {If g the casing is provided with a filler openi having a plug 4 threaded therein.

A pump cylinder 5 is rigidly mounted in the centerofthecasing 1, and is supper ted at its opposite ends onthe end .caps 2 and 3 of the casing. The upper end of the'pump cylinder extends through the cap 2 and is provided with nuts 6 and 7 that serve as local reinforcement for ing an air tight connections A piston 8 is slidably mounted in the pump casing 5, and

has a limited range" of movement on the lower end of arelatively large hollow. piston rod 9, the upper end of which carries a handle 10. v 1 a I piston rod 9 for air which has been cylinder. The upper.

liquid therein.

zle 20 the inner end ofwhich, is flared outward,

the cap and for mak- A stuffing box 11 is threaded into the end of the pump cylinder 5 and a gland 11.1 is threaded into the stufling box so as to sunround and bear against the piston rod 9. A downwardly flaring cap 12 is secured ,tothe covering over the stufling box and nuts. I

In the present embodiment the piston rod 9 is tubular and the lower end isthreaded to receive an end piece 13 on which the pis ton 8 is slidably mounted. The end piece 13- is providedwith'upper and lower shoulders 14 and 15 respectively for limiting the sliding movement of the piston, and is also provided with an elongated slot 16, the lower end of which is spaced slightly above the shoulder! 15 and the upper end of which extends aboveand past the shoulder 14.

Air-may be admitted into the pump cylinder below the piston 8 by means of an air inlet 17 located in the upper end ofthe hollow piston rod 9, the piston rod end piece 13 havinga centrally located pipe 17 .1. soldered therein for conducting the air in the pistbn rod 9 past the slot 16. A check valve 13 is located in the lower end of the end piece 13 for preventing the escape of drawn into the pump inder isprovided with an air outlet valve end of the pumpcyl- 1 19, which communicates with the interior of casing 1, so'that air pumped in through the inlet 17 maybe discharged intothe casthe fire extinguishing ing for displacing The lower end 3 of the deviceis depressed inward and has a discharge nozzle 20 passing therethrough and threaded into a tubular fittingg23iwhich'is threaded into the lower end of the pump cylinder 5. The nozhas a centrally located'aperture21,

and the surrounding rim of which isshaped to form avalve seat 22; The-lower end of the pump cylinder is closed by the fitting 23, which is provided "with a centrallylo-i cated aperture through which extends a valve stem, 24 having a .valve head 25 at its lower end adapted to coact with'the valve seat 22. Surrounding the stem 24 above the fitting 23 is a coiled compression spring 26, which bears against the fitting and a .top]

partf27 on he valve stem, said compressionii spring bein adapted to urge the 25 away from the valve seat 22.

valvehead f A no The top 27 of the valve stem is located directly under the end 28 of the piece 13, and when the piston rod is thrust inward to its full limit the valve stem 24 isfor ced downward, thereby seating the valve head '25, a Means are provided for locking the piston rod in its innermost position, and com prlse a pair of inclined shoulders 29 formed on the lower end of the end piece 13 in po- 'sition to wedgingly engage under inwardly facing flanges 30, which are rigidly mountf ed on the interior of the pump cylinder 5.,

v 3 5j respectively for causing the lower one "of said ends to fall by gravity to the lowermost part of the receptacle regardless of the position in which the same is held.

The vale cylinder 31 comprises a body art havingv a centrally located longitudinally disposed opening '36 surrounded at each end by protruding annular rims 37 and 38. The interior of the body part is cut away at each end, and a pair of caps 3'9 and -49 to which the flexible discharge pipes are ,secured are slipped thereover'forming amni- .f;. of"-the' passage 36 and comprise a pair'of 1ar chambers of somewhat larger diameter thanthe central passage 36, l Means are provided forclosing the ends cup-shaped valve' heads 41 and 42 disposed withtheir open ends facing each other, and

connected together by a stem 43 which passes through "and" is considerablytsmaller than the passage 36. The flanges or rimsof the cup-shaped valves 41 and 42 have'sliding fit over the protruding annular rims 37 and 38, and are provided with ports 44 located so as to provide communication between the passage 36 and one or the other of the chambers at the ends thereof. The .valve heads are slidableby gravity and, being connected by the stem 43, move asa unit, closing the upper valve and opening the lowerone.

"Means for providing communication between the .passage 36 and the discharge nozzle .20 are provided and comprise a pipe 45 disposed longitudinally of the pump cyllnder "andpreferably diametrically opposite the valve cylinder 31. The lower end oflthe ipe 45 communicates with the interior of the tubular fitting 23 into, which the nozzle 20 is threaded, and the upper end is bent around the pump cylinder and is attached to and communicates with the valve cylinder 31. A ball check valve 46 may be provided for stopping any back flow of fluid.

In the operationof the apparatus, the casing may be filled with fire extinguishing llqllld through the filler opening by removing the plug 4. When the apparatus is not being used, the piston rod is thrust inward to its full limit and turned to the right so that the inclined shoulders 29 wedgingly engage under the inwardly faced flanges 30. When the piston rod is in this position, the valve stem 24 is shifted downward against the action of the spring 26, sothat the valve head 25 coacts with the valveseat 22, and effectively prevents any escape of liquid from the apparatus.

When it is desired to use the apparatus, the handle 10 is turned to the left thereby disengaging the shoulders 29 and allowing the spring 26to raise the valve head 25 from the valve seat 22. The handle is then reciprocated in the usual pumping manner, and when the handle is pulled outward the piston 8 slides downward against the shoulder 15 of the end piece 13, and this causes the air to be drawn inward through the valve 18 into the pump cylinder 5. On the return stroke when the piston rod is thrust inwardly, the piston 8 slides up against the shoulder 14 as shown in Fig. 2, thus allowing the air in the cylinder 5 to-passinto the elongated slot 16yon the lower side of the piston 8 andoutof said slot on the upper side of saidpiston, the check valve 18 prevent the escape of air from the cylinder. Th piston rod 9, however, is of comparative large diameter, and consequently displac a considerable amount of'a'ir which has been drawn into the cylinder 5, said air passing out through the discharge valve 19 iinto'the casing 1. When the piston is again rawn outward, the air in the casing ,5 on /the upper side of the valve 8 is discharged through the valve 19 and new air is drawn in below the piston. i 4

The building up of the air pressure in the casing 1 forces the fire extinguishing liquid therein out through one or the other of the flexible discharge tubes. When the fire extinguisher is held in an inclined position or an upright position, as shown in the draw ings, the cup-shaped valves slide, by gravity, soas to close communication through the upper intake pipe and open communicatlon through the lower intake pipe.

The weights 34 and '35 on the free ends of the flexible discharge pipes cause said pipes to assume a lowermost position at all times in the casing, so that one of said ends will dipinto the fire extinguishing liquid at all times regardles of the osition in which the f fire extinguisher is hel a 1 Cross reference is hereby made to my copending application Serial No. 104,189, filed June17, 1916. a

Although but one specific embodiment of this invention has been herein shown and described, it is to be understood that the construction may be altered or details omitted without departing fromthe spirit of this invention as defined by the following claims. I claim:

1. An apparatus of the class described,

earn risin an elon ated tubular rece tacle adapted to contain a liquid, a pump cylinder rigidly mounted in said receptacle, a valve casing rigidly mounted in said receptacle medially of the ends thereof, a 11' of flexible discharge pipes each having one end thereof mounted on and communiwith said valve casing, the other end 1 of said discharge pipes being freely :mo aole and being weighted for causing them to hang downward in said casing, a discharge nozzle communicating with said valve casing, and a piston slidably mounted in said pump cylii'lder, said pump cylinder having an air inlet communicating with the atmosphere and an air outlet communicating with the interior of said receptacle, all being adapted to pump air into said receptacle and to di charge the liquid through said discharge mg pipe, valve casing, and nozzle' 2. apparatus of the class described,

comprising a tubular receptacle adapted to contain a liquid, a pump cylinder mounted in said receptacle, a valve casing mounted in said receptacle medially of the ends thereof, a pair of flexible discharge pipes each-hawing one end thereof mounted onand communicating with said valvecasing, the other end of each of said discharge pipes being freely movable and being Weighted for causing them tohang downward in said casing, a discharge nozzle communicating with said valve casing, and a pistpn slidably mounted in said pump cylinder, said pump cylinder having an air inlet communicating with the atmosphere and all-air outlet communicating with the interior of'said receptacle, all being adapted to pump air into said receptacle and to discharge the liquid through said discharge pipe, valve casing and nozzle.

Signed at Chicago this 15th day of June,

1916. p, WALTER T. CHARLES. Witnesses:

EUGENE A. RUMMLER, M. Horonmes. 

